BCA Newsletter 35 (published Jan 2019)

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30 Jan 2019

AGM Weekend

Activities on the Saturday of the AGM weekend will be based at the YSS. Local caves will be pre-rigged by YSS members who will be available to guide trips if necessary. The SRT facility will be available all day and QMC members will be on hand to assist with SRT training. BCRA members will be running a water tracing workshop - places are limited (only 3 left) so e-mail Secretary to reserve yours.

The YSS guest accommodation for the weekend has all been pre booked by BCA. If you wish to reserve a bed for either the Friday or Saturday night please e-mail Secretary

Annual General Meeting 2019 - Notification

The 2019 Annual General Meeting of the British Caving Association will again take place as part of a weekend of activities. The weekend will be based at the headquarters of the Yorkshire Subterranean Society, Helwith Bridge and further details of the weekend will be published in due course.

The AGM itself will be held at the Horton in Ribblesdale Village Hall, Chapel Lane, Horton in Ribblesdale and will begin at 10:30am on Sunday 9 June.

The latest date for submission of nominations and agenda items has now passed. The agenda for the 2019 Annual General Meeting is now available to read on the website or download

BCA Group Members should note that for the purposes of voting at the AGM each Group may send one voting delegate who must bring with them a letter signed by an officer giving them the authority to represent that group.

Individual Members should bring their membership card.

Robin Weare

Acting BCA Secretary

27th April 2019

Watch The Golden Age of Cave Exploration Talks

To celebrate 50 years of pioneering British cave exploration and scientific research, renowned explorers of the subterranean world gathered together in December 2017 to share their discoveries and experiences during 4 days of lectures at the Royal Geographical Society, London.

On behalf of the British Caving Association and the British Cave Research Association, all 44 of these fascinating talks from around the world are now freely available to view online.

2019 Subscription Rates

At the Council meeting on 6th October it was decided that membership for those aged under 18 on 1st January will be free of charge.

All other subscription rates for 2019 will be unchanged.

Cave rescue in Thailand

On behalf of the whole British caving community, the BCA would like to congratulate the British Cave Rescue Council, members of the Cave Diving Group, their international friends and their Thai colleagues for the outstanding achievement in rescuing the 12 boys and their coach from the Tham Luang Nang Non Cave system in Northern Thailand.

As cavers and cave divers, BCA and CDG members will have had a good insight into the complexity of this rescue and an understanding of the risks and technicalities involved. The rescue was daring but executed with skill, bravery and determination.

We also must not forget the contribution of many others towards the successful outcome. In particular we salute Saman Kunan, the Thai Navy diver who lost his life while helping to prepare for the rescue.

In a world which seems to be becoming ever more divided, we are proud to be part of an international caving and diving community which can come together and achieve the almost impossible.

10 July 2018, updated 28 July 2018

GDPR for Caving clubs

The General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR came into force on the 25th May 2018. Its aim is to give us control over our personal data, which is a good thing. The bad news is that it applies to caving clubs so there’ll be a bit of work to implement it.

The Information Commissioners isn’t going to sue your club on day one if not fully compliant. There are many, many organisation out there that aren’t ready for this. However it is better to crack on with it rather than ignore it. To help, I have written an article that concentrates on the practical steps a typical caving club needs to take to implement GDPR. You can read by following the link to GDPR for Caving Clubs.